Here's a question for those of you that have bought and sold cars on the web.

When someone starts emailing you asking for your lowest price, without even having seen the car, should a red flag go up?

I've got a car listed on a few forums (including this one), but I've never bought or sold a car to someone far away before.

I get this "what's your lowest price?" stuff all the time, and to me it says "this person's not really serious". I would never ask that question till I saw the car - that is, unless I was really, REALLY serious.

I currently have someone doing this (not here), in combination with a lowball offer. He swears he's serious about negotiating a price. My feeling is that I shouldn't even answer his email.

Whaddyu guys think?

 

i sold several cars over the internets and i just sold my suv on craigslist so i can tell you what i did... take from it what you will.

i received 2-3 calls a week for 7 weeks or so with offers that were about 2G's below the "good" blue book price. i'd say 5 or so callers were dead serious with cash in hand but couldn't or wouldn't meet me at the "good" price. i eventually sold it about $800 below "good" blue book price due to several reasons - the guy that bought it was a real gear head and took apart my car and he brought cold hard cash to buy right there on the spot. secondly, value of the car was dropping about 300 bucks every 2 weeks or so. the guy that bought it from me was the best offer i got.

not sure what yer' selling, but, my number 1 advice is - don't expect blue book prices. people are looking for deals. even if they have the money, they will still try to lowball you. if you got new tires, new brakes, got up-to-date service records, car is fully detailed inside/out, then you might have a case, otherwise, i'd say expect 2g's less than what you want. fyi, a lot of banks and credit unions are not giving out used car loans for cars that are 6-7 years old at blue book prices; some are not giving out used car loans at all, so people who are looking to buy older cars have to deal with cash anyway.

hope this helps.

 

It does, thanks.

No, I know I'll never get book, but this guy is suggesting $3500 below "good" private party book (2006 GTO). That's essentially what a dealer would buy it outright for.

So you had folks that wanted to negotiate before seeing your car(s)? I guess I'm just old fashioned....

 

IMO, they only become unreasonable when they won't move up while you move down. If I found a car I liked, I'd come in below BB because they only people that think that price is fair are the ones that print it.

But I'd come in lower (but not insultingly low) and then move up if they were willing to deal.

 

Well, I think I answered my own question. I responded with a counteroffer.

His response? "My dad will only buy it for me if it is under $20K"

Now I know - yes, these types of offers are not often serious buyers...

It gets funnier though. I told him he should look at '04s and '05s since he doesn't have the budget for an '06.

"Seriously? Coming out of a 360 hp lancer evo that weighed 3100 lbs, I think to go down in power would be unwise."

What a douche.

 

I sold my CL on CL and bought my pathfinder on CL.

One dude emailed me what is the lowest price I would go, and I simply emailed him back saying he hasnt even seen the car. If he wants to see it and drive, he is more then welcome and if he interested we can take it from there I am open to negotiation.

He replied something along the lines of "well, youre car isnt worth that much to me, if you dont lower your price, then I'm not going to consider buying it"

And my final reply was something like "HAving not seen or driven the vehicle you dont know what the car is worth. Obviously what this comes down to is that you just cant afford the car."

It ended after that.

Basically, dont let buyers get you to come down on the price right away. Its a sales game, and I played like I did when I sold hondas many years ago. They want a low price right away...they either arent serious, dont have the money, or are just kicking tires.

Get them to see and drive the car first before negotiating a price. Thats my advice. Then, you potentially have a serious person on your hands.

I was able to sell my CL for what kbb (we all know kbb is worthless but its a reference) was saying the car was worth in perfect condition.

 

Now I gotta say this because this is very hypocritical of the normal Azine mentality.

Most of you would come on here and throw a fit if you called your local dealer and asked for the best price and they wouldn't give it to you over the phone. then every one would bash the "stealership" saying they don't want your business and blah blah blah. Why should it be any different in a private party sale.

I'm just being the devils advocate here because I actually agree. You can't negotiate the price on a car you've never seen.

 

mmm, maybe some would yeah...but those people would have the same mentality as the dude in my story...or they would argue youre talking about new vs used.

Either when I sold...it was the same deal. Come in, see the car, drive it, and we'll talk. Otherwise cant help ya, buy.

 

that is a douche. you gotta' let those people just move on with their bad selves...

i try not to deal with kids. they are punks at best, douches at worst - its a losing fight and a waste of time.

i also think it has a lot to do with what type o' car you are selling. suv's just don't sell right now - i was able to sell mine at least cuz the dude was like 6' 2" 250+ and could only fit in an suv... big v8's won't well either. but it depends. all it takes is one person who falls in love with the car or has the right circumstances to need to buy that particular vehicle.

hope you get what you want for it!

 

Maybe this is a generational thing? Perhaps if you grew up with the internet you think nothing of negotiating prior to seeing the goods?

Black Label - not sure how it is "hypocritical of the azine mentality", or what that even means, for that matter.

But I would never call up a dealership and ask them what their best price is. I don't even care what the price is on a car until I've decided it's what I want. And even then, I expect that there will be a negotiation to determine the "best" price. I have asked "how firm is that price?" before just to see how motivated the seller is, but asking for the bottom dollar price at the outset is just dumb.

The good news is that I own my car outright, have already purchased its replacement outright, and have all the time in the world. I'm not looking to make a killing, just get a fair price.

 

It's hard to get book value out of an American car. Believe me, I know. I have lost my ass SO many times on American cars I can't count. I have vowed never to do it again. The only American cars I buy now are Corvettes. They seem to hold their value better than others. Plus I get plenty of enjoyment from them. As for my daily cars for both me and my wife, it's Acura /Honda and Toyotas.
If you're at $22k and he's offering $20k, you should seriously think about it. That is if he has cash and is ready to buy. Your car is doing absolutely nothing but depreciating and it's doing it fast.

 

You're probably right... I think I'm subconciously looking for reasons to keep it.

 

There are plenty of threads regarding sales people not answering the question at hand or answering a question with a question and most of the Azine communtiy bashes the sales people for it.

Now that it's a private party acting as the salesman it seems to be perfectly acceptable.

In the end I completely agree that seeing the actual car you are buying and driving the car need to come before price negotiations.